Asus has quietly released a new high end GTX 680 graphics card for enthusiasts who want their high quality Direct CU cooling, but without it costing them three motherboard slots. Catchily named the GTX680-DC2-4GD5, this card has 4GB RAM and a two slot Direct CU II cooler featuring two fans and five copper heatpipes. Asus claim that it offers a “20% bigger dissipation area, achieving 20% cooler and 14dB quieter performance than reference”. The card also comes with their “acclaimed DIGI+ VRM with 10-phase Super Alloy Power technology delivers precise digital power and enhanced overclocking headroom” among other goodies.

The GPU is clocked at reference speeds of 1006MHz with a Boost clock of 1058MHz and the 4GB GDDR5 memory is clocked at a reference 6008MHz effective. Price is expected to be around the $500 mark. There’s also a GTX680-DC2G-4GD5 which is the same card, but with the option to pick one game from a choice of five full games: Assassin’s Creed III, I Am Alive, R.U.S.E, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Rainbow Six Vegas 2. I guess it’s not hard to tell which product version any buyer would pick! Product pages are here and here.